Oxford, Michigan -- Natural Family
Planning is the healthy choice for women. This is the
message promoted by Catholic obstetrician and gynecologist Dr. Daniel Greene.

“Embracing natural family planning is a healthy
lifestyle choice, a wonderful way to grow stronger in the
faith, and can be used as an excellent means for
evangelization when we really understand what it is all about,”
he said.

“We are inundated with the
birth control concept,” he said. “A lot of that information
is well intentioned, but not accurately presented in a manner
that allows women to make an informed choice.”

Dr. Greene spoke at a retreat for women
on April 27, 2013 at the Queen of the Family
Retreat Center in Oxford, Michigan.He called his
presentation Women’s Health 101.

Fr. Lorenzo
Gomez LC opened the retreat with a spiritual reflection.“If you came to this presentation today, consider yourself
special women,” he said, challenging those in attendance to share
what they would hear.

Dr. Greene provided
his audience with what he called “talking points” on the
dangers of contraception and the benefits of Natural Family Planning.These points can be used for personal growth
as well as evangelization. To access his enlightening Power Point
information, click here.

“We can evangelize
on this issue,” he said, stressing that a proper understanding
of human sexuality can help “bring people closer to Christ.”

Dr. Greene said he learned much from
reading the Catholic teaching on these issues.He
points to the Catechism of the Catholic Church 2370:

“….Every action which, whether in anticipation of the
conjugal act, or in its accomplishment, or in the development
of its natural consequences, proposes, whether as an end or
as a means, to render procreation impossible, is intrinsically evil.”

One of his own patients pointed this
out to him earlier on in his career, leading him
on a journey of discovery and conversion.He
is now one of the few doctors in Michigan who
does not offer contraception to his patients, but recommends and
teaches Natural Family Planning.(Click here for
an article about Dr. Greene from the Catholic News Service.)

Why do so few physicians choose to
offer this method to their patients?

“I
think it is a matter of perception and education,” said

Dr. Daniel Greene and friend (Photo by CNS/Michigan Catholic)

Dr. Greene. “We are doing something wrong in getting the
message out.People just don’t know. Birth control
is easily and readily available.People think it
works, and they think NFP doesn’t work.”

The culture often overemphasizes the benefits of contraception, while downplaying
or even ignoring the risks, he said. Much is due
to a lack of the appreciation of the seriousness of
the side effects. Regarding the birth control pill, the risks
of blood clots, though rare, are real and serious.

“I have seen this in my patients,” he
said. “What are we doing when we put these hormones
into our bodies?”

NFP has none of
these side effects and modern methods are as equally effective
as contemporary birth control products, Dr. Greene explained.He listed, among others, the Sympto-Thermal Method, the Billings Ovulation
Method, the "Two Day Method" and an even a simpler
counting method called the "Standard Days Method.”

As opposed to NFP, he pointed out that Catholics often
do not realize how the process of many types of
contraception methods works. “Contraception is supposed to prevent pregnancy,” he
said. “But the problem is in how they define pregnancy.”

Many believe pregnancy takes place after the
fertilized egg is implanted in the uterine wall.However, Catholic teaching clearly states that human life begins at
conception. One of Dr. Greene’s favorite quotes on this topic
comes from the document “Instruction on Respect for Human Life
in its Origin and on the Dignity of Procreation” or
Donum Vitae from the Congregation for the Doctrine of the
Faith:

“Right from fertilization, the adventure
of human life begins.”

Many forms of
birth control like the IUD, and sometimes Depo Provera and
the birth control pill, do not prevent fertilization, but implantation
of the fertilized embryo. “This is known as an abortifacient,”
he said.